egan to crumble away; then the hare, seizing his paddle, and
brandishing it in the air, struck savagely at the badger's boat, until
he had smashed it to pieces, and killed his enemy.

When the old man heard that his wife's death had been avenged, he was
glad in his heart, and more than ever petted and loved the hare, whose
brave deeds had caused him to welcome the returning spring.

THE STORY OF THE OLD MAN WHO MADE WITHERED TREES TO BLOSSOM

In the old, old days, there lived an honest man with his wife, who had
a favourite dog, which they used to feed with fish and titbits from
their own kitchen. One day, as the old folks went out to work in their
garden, the dog went with them, and began playing about. All of a
sudden, the dog stopped short, and began to bark, "Bow, wow, wow!"
wagging his tail violently. The old people thought that there must be
something nice to eat under the ground, so they brought a spade and
began digging, when, lo and behold! the place was full of gold pieces
and silver, and all sorts of precious things, which had been buried
there. So they gathered the treasure together, and, after giving alms
to the poor, bought themselves rice-fields and corn-fields, and became
wealthy people.

Now, in the next house there dwelt a covetous and stingy old man and
woman, who, when they heard what had happened, came and borrowed the
dog, and, having taken him home, prepared a great feast for him, and
said--

"If you please, Mr. Dog, we should be much obliged to you if you would
show us a place with plenty of money in it."

The dog, however, who up to that time had received nothing but cuffs
and kicks from his hosts, would not eat any of the dainties which they
set before him; so the old people began to get cross, and, putting a
rope round the dog's neck, led him out into the garden. But it was all
in vain; let them lead him where they might, not a sound would the dog
utter: he had no "bow-wow" for them. At last, however, the dog stopped
at a certain spot, and began to sniff; so, thinking that this must
surely be the lucky place, they dug, and found nothing but a quantity
of dirt and nasty offal, over which they had to hold their noses.
Furious at being disappointed, the wicked old couple seized the dog,
and killed him.

When the good old man saw that the dog, whom he had lent, did not come
home, he went next door to ask what had become of him; and the wicked
old man answered that he had killed the